Ch7 filing questions

[amiscrewed]

Howdy, all.

I've come to realize that I need a fresh start. I have a meeting with an attorney on Monday... But I can't wait that long for a couple questions I have and I hope someone can help me out.

I lost my job in August and have about 56,000 in unsecured debt. I am current on all my payments. I live in IL and I'm married with 4 kids. I have a house with a small amount of equity, maybe 10k... I have one car that I own, worth maybe 9k on a trade-in, and I own a boat, worth maybe 10k. I have another car with an outstanding loan. We don't really have anything else of any real value. My savings will be gone by the end of February if I don't have a job by then.

I'll be sad if they take my boat, but if it goes, oh well. It was fun while it lasted. My pickup truck, on the other hand, I need. I have to have 2 cars so my wife and I can work. Granted, I don't have a job to go to, but I expect that I will, hopefully very soon. So I feel like I really need to keep my car or I'll actually be worse off from the transportation headache after I file then I am right now, completely swamped with bills.

The other thing is, I make good money. I'm an upper management candidate and I know that my next job is going to pay a more than ample amount to cover our bills unless I have some sort of catastrophe.

So, my questions:
What's going to happen to the boat?
My truck?
Does it even make sense to file, if my prospects of future employment are good, and theoretically sufficient to cover the debt?

Thanks,
AmIScrewed

[mtbc]

What could happen to them depends in part on which state you live in -- or, really, what states you've lived in in the past couple of years. Also, if you'll be filing as a married couple, which can double some exemptions. You have little enough equity in your house that Federal exemptions may help.

When were you last working for good money? The job market really sucks right now, of course, and won't much pick up anytime soon, which may be something you can make something of.

[amiscrewed]

As I mentioned, I live in IL. I have not lived any other place, ever.

The job I was laid off from in August paid 84,000/yr.

[ILnoiFiller]

Where at in Illinois?

[amiscrewed]

Northwestern Lake County, in the Chain O Lakes area.

[ILnoiFiller]

Oh, Im in the Rockford area was going to recommend a really good lawyer that did my chpt 7. Good luck, it will work out.

[amiscrewed]

I appreciate the thought, thanks ILnoiFiller.

[NanaOf11]

Not sure about IL but in our state we could have used a "wildcard" to save our boat. We ended up selling it to a family member, using the funds immediately to pay for our attorneys. Trustee asked for proof, we complied. We held our breath though...It was my husbands retirement gift, he may love that boat more than me!! Maybe someday....we could buy it back